Equity

Supporting Women Through Covid-19 Recovery

When it comes to the economic fallout of Covid-19, women are disproportionately on the frontline. Future Women spoke to lead economist Angela Jackson on how to rebuild.

By Jordaine Chattaway

Equity

When it comes to the economic fallout of Covid-19, women are disproportionately on the frontline. Future Women spoke to lead economist Angela Jackson on how to rebuild.

By Jordaine Chattaway

What impact has Covid-19 had on gender equality in the workplace? 50% more women have left the workforce than men as a result of (Covid-19). So (the) gap has widened and … from an economic recovery point of view, one of the biggest risks is: we need women to be working and more women to be working to … drive the economic recovery.

What are the main reasons for this impacting women so much? There were a lot of reasons … one is that (womens’) jobs went, the other was the kids came home. About 50% of women versus around 17% of men have gone home to look after kids. So we know the impacts on women are multifaceted, and there’s a few, but they’ve been big and so the economic impacts … on women overall have been much larger than on men.

I might invest in some North Face. This is spine tingling. We did it, everyone. We did it.

— Jamila Rizvi (@JamilaRizvi) October 26, 2020

*This is an edited version of an extended interview. To watch the original Facebook Live interview go to the Future Women – Members Only Facebook page and search: Angela Jackson.